The invention relates to an inductive component for the formation of a magnetic circuit, comprising at least one wire winding and at least one core with a ferromagnetic core material, the core comprising a gap and at least one further gap to interrupt the magnetic circuit. In addition, use of the component is specified.
An electronic ballast is used as an electronic voltage and/or current converter in the area of lighting technology. Electronic ballasts comprise at least one inductive component. The inductive component is, for example, a choke coil or a transformer. The inductive component has a wire winding. The wire winding comprises a plurality of windings of an electrical conductor to produce a magnetic flux by the current flowing in the conductor. The wire winding also serves for producing a voltage by changing the magnetic induction in the wire winding. To increase the magnetic induction and to reduce a magnetic leakage loss, the wire winding is usually located on a core with ferromagnetic material. The ferromagnetic core material is, for example, a ferrite. The core provides a magnetic circuit which is as closed as possible.
These electronic ballasts are increasingly miniaturized. The miniaturization relates in particular to an inductive component of the electronic ballasts. A small overall size of an inductive component can be achieved with the same power throughput by a higher switching frequency. However, a higher switching frequency leads to an increase in the electrical losses and consequently to a decrease in the quality of the inductive component. The quality is a measure of the electrical quality of the inductive component. With increasing miniaturization of the inductive component, it is possible as a result of the diminishing quality for an inadmissibly high operating temperature to occur, in particular when the inductive component is operated under a high AC voltage.